Hos­pi­tal icon to en­joy some down time

ONE of Townsville Hos­pi­tal’s le­gends of anaes­thet­ics has re­tired af­ter more than 40 years treat­ing the North’s pa­tients.

Dr Vic Cal­lanan ( left) re­tired as a staff spe­cial­ist on Fri­day, hav­ing stepped down as di­rec­tor of the anaes­thet­ics depart­ment four years ago.

Dr Cal­lanan said it was bit­ter­sweet leav­ing a job and work­place he loved but he and wife Doreen had earned some time to­gether af­ter a long ca­reer.

“I have many won­der­ful mem­o­ries and am proud to have worked in a … depart­ment where there is great col­le­gial­ity, ca­ma­raderie and pro­fes­sional re­spect,” he said.

Di­rec­tor of anaes­thet­ics Dr Chris But­ler said Dr Cal­lanan was re­tir­ing in a class of his own.

“Vic has been an in­spi­ra­tional leader and vi­sion­ary and he is the rea­son I’m an anaes­thetist,” he said.

“The ex­am­ple Vic has set for the whole depart­ment per­vades from the top down and is a very tough act to fol­low.”

In his 40 years at the Townsville Hos­pi­tal, Dr Cal­lanan was re­spon­si­ble for the de­vel­op­ment of the hos­pi­tal’s in­ten­sive care, hy­per­baric and pain medicine ser­vices as well as to­day’s anaes­thet­ics depart­ment.

Dr Cal­lanan was made a mem­ber of the Or­der of Aus­tralia in 2005, was awarded the Aus­tralian Re­sus­ci­ta­tion Coun­cil Medal in 2011 and the Aus­tralia and New Zealand Col­lege of Anaes­thetists ( ANZCA) Medal in 2013 for his con­tri­bu­tion to the sta­tus of anaes­the­sia, in­ten­sive care and pain medicine.